Linked: A Novel (Book 1) Chapter 1
by Jessehcka
Summary: A series where you the readers help me develop the story as we go. Rhyleigh is a front desk employee at a less than reputable motel where she runs into a rather odd male who's stay at her work place (and current residence) takes her on an adventure of peril, kick-assery, terror, and passion. Join us as we pair up our leading ladies with macho males. (Inspired by Black Dagger Bros)


I would like to state that this is the first chapter I have written in almost ten years. It's a warm up mostly and an outline to the future chapters. I want to know what everyone thinks of the first main character; what you want to see happen with her development, what you think might happen in this book, etc. This is a pure piece of curiosity for me and I want very much so to have readers help me create it's pages, characters, and plots. I will take EVERYONE'S advice into consideration. Please feel free to mention any and all mistakes you find. This is going to be an experience for everyone. The general feel I would like to develop for this is a paranormal romance based on female mates and a group of males of different characteristics and species. But of course, this story could go in any direction honestly. Thank you for listening/reading. I look forward to hearing from you all. **  
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 **It** was one of those nights where winter was just beginning to stretch it's icy arms across the small town in a promising hug of snow soon to come. Sitting just off a highway set behind a burger joint and a run-down hotel was another run-down hotel that attracted the town's worst patronage. Years of neglect and hard drug use left the single-story establishment with a less than appealing background. The parking lot was littered with trash & fallen leaves yet to be collected by maintenance, curtains were drawn tight to shield the eyes of curious on-lookers to any inhabitants engaging in their debauchery, wooden exterior had tan paint peeling and cracking from a poor paint-job attempt to give the place a "face-lift" a year prior. At first glace you would think, "Yeah, I'm going to catch herpes just stepping on the grounds". Nothing about the place screamed "WELCOME". Yet, this was the place that Rhyleigh found herself not only employed, but also found herself calling it "home". Upon a series of unfortunate events 5 months prior she ended up landing a front desk job that paid shit wages. So shit in fact, that she was unable to keep up with payments for her previous newer modular home and ended up losing the place and was forced to beg her boss to let her set up camp in one of the run-down rooms in order to get her life back on track. The "getting back on track" part was taking her longer than she had planned. Now she went thru her days working the graveyard shift, sleeping thru the days, spending countless hours on her "tumblr" account and inhaling coffee like it was going out of style. With a heavy exhale of nicotine-soaked smoke, she glanced around the parking lot from her usual smoking place which was right out the front door of the hotel lobby perched on the edge of in-wall heater that stuck about a foot from the wall. Her ankles were crossed, and her left hand dug deep into the fur lined pocket of her knock-off Victoria Secret hoodie as if it were digging for Narnia. This night was like every other Sunday night, dead. She was taking more cigarette breaks than usual as she was inside falling asleep at the desk and the cold night air was the only thing kick starting her blood stream to keep her awake. Between coffee induced buzz and the slight twinge of cramps that had been creeping up on her since the morning, she was sure a nap might be in order later. Inside she had already gone thru her mountain of check-ins and accounts by the time midnight had even hit. Now she was left with nothing to do for the next three hours until it was time to run audit. If she waited long enough, anyone coming thru until then would still be able to get a decent rate for the night before she had to start charging early check in fees. It was almost criminal to her to charge an extra $30 dollars to the poor souls that found themselves coming to her hotel because of how "cheap" the rates already were. But once they examined the rooms, more often than not, the good civilians asked for a refund and hightailed it down the road to the new Holiday Hotel that had been built 2 years prior for a hefty $200 a night. A small price to pay to avoid catching the plague at her current establishment. Without realizing it, the cigarette she had been smoking to pass the time had burned down well past the filter lining was ended up burning the edge of her lips as she went to inhale again. With a savage "shit" she threw the butt from her fingers and proceeded to lick the tender wound while heading inside to the overly toasty warm lobby. As she walked behind the counter, she shed the hoodie from her body and tossed it over the dingy olive-green rolling chair with the missing right arm before throwing herself into the seat with enough force to bound off the back cabinet causing the stack of never-collected-mail to rattle in the plastic box it was kept. Every night went the same. Every night would continue to go the same. Nothing ever changing. On the desk located behind the actual check-in desk her phone pinged alerting her that someone had sent her a text. Picking the device up she was curious as to who would be texting her at almost 1 in the morning. Sadly, it was just an e-mail from some website she had probably signed up to in the past that now just spammed her with coupons. For a moment she pondered if she should hop onto tumblr to lose herself in the many aesthetic posts of fellow tumblrs or maybe get onto Pinterest to save hundreds of DIY projects that she knew she'd never actually DIY. Her ponderings were cut short by the sound of someone giving one of those "I'm over here" coughs that always seems to trigger her irritation. Whipping the swivel chair around she startled for just a moment as a rather large male was leaning over the front desk with one arm bent over the top supporting his weight.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in" she started as she rose from the chair and approached the computer monitor that was probably the newest thing this place had seen in decades. It was true as well, that she hadn't heard him come in. Normally the door would trigger the chime but perhaps that too had taken a turn for the grave as everything else in the area had. "How can I help you, Dear?", she said in her most professional sing-song voice.  
The male gripped the brim of the Buckeyes ball cap that covered most of his features from view giving a light-hearted tip of the hat in greeting.  
"Didn't mean to sneak up on ya'", he said. "I'm looking to rent a room for the night if you've got some available". His voice was somewhere between a valley accent and southern. Never in her life had she heard something so outlandish. Aside from wondering where the hell he had come from, she was more worried about his massive size collapsing the not-so-stable front desk that he was straining with his body. That's the last thing she needed was the whole desk to come down with the guest still in tow. There was a moment of awkward silence as her mind got stuck on the mental image of watching the bulky build of the man go crashing down into a pile of weak wood. Realizing that he was still waiting for her to do her damn job her hands twitched forward onto the keyboard and mouse as she got back to reality.  
"Ah, just one night then? Alright, will it be just one adult then?", she asked as she rehearsed the usual lines of hospitality.  
"There will be 5 of us", she replied as she non-chalantly picked up a hotel business card from one of the little stands sporting multiple businesses around the area.  
"Five? Our rooms only accommodate up to 4 adults at a time, and that's if you purchase a room with 2 queen beds in them"

"I was just kiddin' Ma'am. There's only going to be 2 of us". As he finished his statement, he had slipped the card into the right pocket of his camo jacket that looking warm enough to keep out even the chilliest ice blasts; and fit his athletic build like a glove. In the back of her head she wondered if the other male was going to be just as big as he was. If that was the case, they'd need a queen bed to each of them for any form of comfort.

"If that's the case then I've got plenty of double queen rooms available". She went to work plopping in information. As she sailed thru the multiple pages of nonsense, she got the feeling that she was being watched; and not the usual drunken or drugged out haze stare either, this was a stare that raised the hair on the back of her neck in caution. Glancing up from under her lashes she could see indeed that the male was watching her with calculating eyes. The brim of his hat was not blocking his facial features from her anymore and for some reason she wished it was. There wasn't anything unique about the man, strong jaw, broad eyebrows, a slightly bent nose as if it had seen a break or two in its time, full cheeks and deep brown eyes. It was the aura he was giving off. Even tho he was as relaxed as anyone who had come thru, something about the way his eyes seemed to take in everything and his shoulders were slightly hunched as if ready to spring into action at any moment. He didn't seem like a junkie at first glance but looks were deceiving and if anyone wanted to seem relaxed while waiting to get their nightly fix in; they would give off that aura.

"I'll need an I.D. in order to make this process go a little faster, if you don't mind" she said as turned to fully look at him.

"Alright, one moment". He dug into the back pocket of his jeans in order to pull out a wallet to hand over an I.D. that said he hailed from Colorado. Quite a long way from home. She mentioned her little joke to him that pulled a short laugh out of him followed by a simple "yeah". Per regulations she stepped away from the desk in order to go to the back office where the copier machine was in order to place the I.D. onto the glass and make a copy. Since the hotel mostly dealt in cash it was mandatory to get some sort of evidence of who was coming and going since there most likely wouldn't be a credit card on file. When the archaic piece of machinery finally spit out the copy she walked back to the front desk but the male who was now named "Daniel Borowski" was no where to be seen. Peering thru the night clerk window that looked into a second lobby that was put into action when the main lobby closed at 2AM she didn't see any sign of life in there either. He wouldn't just disappear without his I.D. so she figured he must have had to of run out to his vehicle for a form of payment. She went to work plucking in the guest's information as usual. Once everything was entered all she would need to collect next would be a phone number in case of emergencies. While she continued to wait for Daniel to pop back into the lobby she went ahead and made room keys up and printed a folio for him to sign once he got back. Five minutes bled into ten. Then ten minutes bled into fifteen. Where the hell did this guy go? Did he get lost in the parking lot somehow? The place wasn't that big and it was a pretty self-explanatory layout honestly. Leaning up on her tip toes she tried to see him from the large glass window of the lobby that gave full view of the parking lot but there was no sign of life aside from the loose trash blowing across the pavement from the chilly air. Once she moved back behind the desk she startled yet again as Daniel had appeared suddenly at the other end of the desk near the second entranced used for the night window. She gave a curse before gripping the area of her heart as a small spike of adrenaline kicked in.

"Jesus fuck", she yelled and instantly regretted breaking composure.

"Again, I didn't mean to startle you, I had to run out to get my credit card; I must have left in there after I left the gas station". As if to verify his story he held up a black credit card in her direction.

"No, no. You're fine, usually I can hear people when they come in but you're pretty light on your feet", she said thru her embarrassment while reaching for the card. "If you don't mind, I'm going to need a phone number to add to your file".

"If you wanted to get my number, all you had to do was ask me", he teased. The smirk that lifted the left side of his cheek revealing a small dimple gave him away.

The little joke triggered her irritation enough that she almost snatched the card from his hands in order to get away from him fast enough. Getting hit on was not her favorite thing, especially when the usual people hit on her just wanted cheaper rates to do their bidding in. "Ah, sorry to burst your bubble Hun, but I'm currently seeing someone" she lied. It was a lie she often used to let people down gently.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I'll respect a gentle a let down as I'm gonna get", she said again in that teasing tone of his. Once again, he was back to leaning against the desk and threatening the integrity of its craftsman ship. "Well, for professional use only my number is 516-555-8293". He finished with another one of those smirks.

As he rambled off the numbers, she punched them in to finalize the whole process. Once the card was ran and the papers signed she pointed out to him exactly where his room could be found; which was at the back of the main building facing the back empty lot. He collected his things and was out the door just as quietly and quickly as he had come in. With his presence now gone for the night she realized that she was now able to relax and the goose bumps on her arms disappeared. It wasn't the weirdest experience she had ever had while working the front desk, but it was added to the list. After she filed away the guests folio she resumed her spot in the beat up olive swivel chair and enjoyed the rest of her watered down iced coffee she had made at the beginning of her shift; hoping it would give her the motivation to remain awake for the remaining eight hours of her shift.

3 am had come rolling around by the time anything would again happen in the lobby. Rhyleigh had spent the last hours scrolling thru pages and pages of DIY projects to add to her dream home list. Whether it was doing more good than bad to her subconscious and will to live was another story for later. The loud piercing shrill of the front desk phone cut thru her concentration causing her jump slightly at the sudden intrusion of noise. On the other end of the line was an irritated long term night guest with a lot of attitude to spare. They decided to inform her that the room next to theirs had been causing quite a bit of noise and was currently keeping them from getting their sleep in. She apologized as best as she could and promised to get a hold of the room to take care of the issue. She was going to dig into the system to figure out which guest was causing the disturbance, but mother nature had other plans for her. The cramps she had been feeling for the last four or so hours finally brought around the river of red so she locked up her cash drawer before hunting down the good ol' menstrual cup and went to take care of the issue.

Avoiding what could have been a disaster she went to work cleaning things that had no business being cleaned for the fourth time that shift. If she didn't keep herself occupied there was bound to be a nap somewhere in her near future. Besides that, moving around helped calm the cramps down that were convincing her to cut out her lower anatomy. Fighting off her better judgement she decided that keeping her lower body in tact was the only option she had seeing as finding any sort of surgical equipment in the hotel was a solid zero percent. She came around the corner leading to the back desk when the phone began to trill again. 'Shit', she thought. Did she forget to give the rowdy room a call? Yes. Picking up the phone she was met with the same irritated guest.

This time when she hung up the phone she immediately went over to the computer to hunt down the offending person who was more than likely going to face the wrath of her irritation. Low and behold the name next to the calling guest was none other than Daniel. Apparently, it sounded like there were more than just two people in the room. This is exactly why you never judge a book by its cover. Turning away from the screen she jabbed his room number into the keypad hard enough to get the over-used "2" button jammed into the frame.

"Well, shit", she whispered as she slung the phone between her head and shoulder while trying to dig the little square out.

Three rings sounded before the line was picked up, a shuffling noise was made followed by the sound of a door shutting.

"Hello?" Judging by the baritone on the other end it was Daniel who had picked it up.

"Hello, this is Rhyleigh at the front desk. I'm getting multiple complaints of a noise issue coming from your room. Is everything alright?", she asked as professionally as she could even tho what she really wanted to say went more like a "keep it the fuck down".

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about that. It seems the ol' lady and I were getting a little rougher than we thought. I promise from now on we will keep it down". She could tell he had that smirk just by his teasing tone. It did everything but reassure her that he was going to keep it down. Who hits on women when you're checking into a hotel with your wife? The disgust rolled off her soul like waves.

"Yes, please keep it down. I apologize for having to call you so late, please have a good night"  
The receiver was hung up with a little more force than needed; the button that had been lodged into the frame popped out. She turned from the phone with a light sigh before throwing herself back into the swivel chair to resume her browsing with the thought of the odd guest that was now in house. It didn't take very long for her to get lost in her Pinterest browsing again. The night carried on much like any other, no more issues, no more check-ins, just an easy night.

The shift changed happened like every other morning. She informed the next girl, Catherin, about the one mishap last night but she didn't go into detail about it. Sharing more than she had to was never a habit. Just say what needs to be said and leave it at that. She firmly believed that you come to work to work and not make friends. This state of mind probably had a lot to do with why she was rarely invited to group events and parties. Did this affect her all that much? Not really. With her shift officially closed out she bundled herself up for the brisk walk to her room. Outside the sun had barely began to rise at the glorious time of 6am. The street lights that worked in the parking lot did little to illuminate her path as she trudged thru the leaves and trash collecting along the sidewalks leading to the back buildings where the only apartment style room was found. Her hands were tucked tightly into the bends of her arms and her head ducked down into the high collar of the jacket that was doing its best to fight off the chill. Almost to her room she couldn't help but glance over across the parking lot at the second building to catch a glimpse of room 218 where Daniel was put. It just so happened that the lamp around that area was burnt out so any hopes of seeing what was going on in there was shot to hell. Not that she particularly cared; it just seemed that that same weird sense of caution seemed to creep back up over her body. In all honesty it could be just the ice-cold wind whipping thru her thing jacket. With a final huff she picked up her speed to get to her room, plug in the keycard, then threw herself into the warm embrace of her shit hole suite. Inside, she used the deadbolt before beginning to shrug off her jacket and tossing it over the edge of single king bed in the room. The new objective on her mind was to crank up the heat in the shower and try to soak away the cramps that were promising to keep her awake all day. With heavy lids and tired bones she went to work preparing a bath hot enough to cook flesh, before dressing down in pajamas that were nothing more than yoga shorts and too-big T-shirt sporting her favorite video game "Zelda".


End file.
